To Be Owned
by Magi-of-Luin
Summary: The boy was property, and he belonged to the Court. In time he would realize his place, even if he was forced into it.
1. Chapter 1

Light fell gracefully over the young face of Richard Grayson as the morning slowly began. Ribbons of sunlight bleeding through the heavy curtains igniting the dust particles hanging in the air, giving life to the unseen specks. Dick felt the warmth of the early autumn sun cross over his body, as he felt himself fall back into the haze of sleep. It was in these mornings that Dick could almost make himself believe that he was still with his family in the circus. The warm sunlight would make its way through the small window of their trailer and hit him square in the face. It always used to annoy the young boy that his sleep was disturbed, but now he cradled into the familiarity of it. It was one of the small things that he was able to cling to from his past. Small similarities that made him think back to when he use to awaken to the sight of his father sleeping in the bed right across from him. Snoring soundly and enjoying his rest. His mother would already be up prepping for breakfast. He remembered the soft creak of their trailer door as his mother set up the propane stove under the awning outside. Nobody cooked like his mother, and he was always amazed that his mother was able to create beautiful meals with such minimal equipment. It was small details that made these memories come back to him and he couldn't help but notice how often they occurred in his new life with Bruce. The birds would still sing in the morning, he would still awaken to a kind and loving voice, and despite the warm sunlight on his face he would still cringe when his bare feet touched the cold flooring. The base elements of these events all seemed the same, everyday rituals that life gifted upon sunrises, though despite the similarities there was something off. Instead of hearing the different bird calls from their travels, it would be the same song every morning from the local aviaries. Instead of his mother's smooth and calming voice, it was Alfred's proper call to breakfast that would wake him. His feet still recoiled at the cold, but instead of scared and splintered floorboards his feet slip effortlessly atop polished mahogany.

As the light danced across his features he couldn't help but compare the differences that both of his lives had offered. He let his mind drift off, melding the two worlds that he loved. He would awaken slowly to his father's snores, seeing the older man asleep across from him, sleeping in from a late night performance. Alfred and his mother would be downstairs preparing breakfast together. Alfred would be appalled at the portable Coleman grill, his mother declaring that it would serve them well enough. Bruce would be sitting at the end of the dining room table finishing off the end of his cup of coffee, waiting for Dick to come down so Batman and Robin could begin their training. A small curve fixed itself to Dick's thought as he thought of the absurdity of his dream. He knew that it was hopeful, desperate, wishing; knowing full well that both worlds had no possibility of co-existing. He was aware that as soon as he opened his eyes that only half of his dream would remain. Because mornings were either one of two things: A blessed escape from a night of terrors or a hard slap of reality.

Dick had found out lately that it was becoming harder to differentiate between the two. It seemed as of late that his sweetest of dreams would quickly blend into his nightmares, leaving him to wake to a cold and empty room. For now though, while his dreams were pleasant, he wanted to be at peace. His mind slowly started to frost over with the beginnings of unconsciousness.

CRASH!

Dick's eyes shot open wide as the sound of glass and screeching decimated the quiet dawn. Reality was getting creative with its wake up calls. Silk sheets quickly fell to the floor as Dick sprang up from his bed. A soft breeze entered the bedroom from the now shattered panes of the French-door that led onto the balcony, the glass shards now scattered across the floor. The shrill cries of two dissimilar animals pierced his ears as he gently started to walk around to the battle raging on in the middle of his bedroom.

Settling down from the adrenaline of a startling awakening, Dick stood in shock as he took in the events happening before him. A few feet away stood an owl, its soft white feathers catching the light from the glass on the floor. Sharp eyes fell in contrast with the soft heart shaped face, soft speckles of light brown helping to frame its facial features. The sight might have been considered beautiful if it wasn't for the blood marring the talons of the bird and it's still screaming prey clutched tightly within its claws. Black leather wing tried desperately to escape its captor as it finally dawned on Richard as to what the second animal was. A bat. A little brown bat to be exact. It was the same type of bat that could be found clinging to the walls of the cave that hid beneath the manor.

Without warning the barn owl dove its beak into the furry back of the mammal. Blood dribbled down the form as the talons released the animal and let it fall to the floor squealing in agony. Red adorned the snowy plumage as the owl swallowed the hunk of flesh. Dick felt a pang of remorse as he watched the vermin squirm on the floor until it finally gave up its fight for life. It occurred to the boy wonder that his hands were shaking. He didn't know why watching this act of nature bothered him so much. In his lifetime he had seen far worse as both Dick Grayson and Robin, so why did this necessary act of survival make bile want to rise in the back of his throat? He could only assume it was because of the heavy symbolism that hung unsaid in the air. To see a bat, a symbol of safety and strength, reduced to a pile of meat that was used to nourish the strength of another creature. If he were back in the circus he would call this an omen, but years of heavy detective training instructed him to push the idea of superstitions aside. I was just a bizarre occurrence, an oddity to be told as an engaging tall tale at the next social event. Right?

Through the dying cries of the bat, heavy footfalls could be heard thundering down the hallway. Dick threw his gaze to the door as the owl quickly perked its head up at the noise, seemingly agitated by the disturbance. When Dick turned back to face the fowl their eyes fell upon each other. Black fell upon blue and for a moment it seemed that both sides were caught in a trance.

The door to the bedroom flew open, and before Dick knew what was happening he felt air whap against the side of his head and penetrating cries attack his ears. Feathered wings blocked his vison and he subconsciously brought his hands up to protect his face. In retrospect Dick wished that he had worn a shirt with long sleeves to bed, perhaps then there might have been a little protection against the talons that dug harshly into his forearms. He heard a familiar yell of surprise before he felt the presence of the bird disappear. Unaware that he shut his eyes he found himself opening them to the sight of Bruce Wayne escorting the owl to the door, batting at it with one of the pillows that had been on his bed.

A stiff silence hung in the air as soon as the bird flew back through the open window. Bruce stood in front of the broken door a hand sifting through his hair as his eyes fell to the mess on the floor. His eyes caught on the glass shards and fell darkly upon the bat that lay dead in a puddle of blood.

"Alfred! It's alright, you can come in." Bruce called to the doorway where the butler had been told to wait, hopefully out of danger. The butler walked into the room and gave a sharp inhale as he too saw the gore that littered the room. His eyes quickly fell to his youngest ward and he quickly went to his aid, seeing the blood that was running down his arms.

"Good heavens! What happened in here?" Alfred exclaimed as he quickly ran to the bathroom to grab a small hand towel. Bruce had moved to the side of the bed and was examining the scrapes caused by the owl. Alfred returned and began to wipe away the blood with the damp cloth. Turning the limb over in his large hands Bruce turned his attention to Dick's face.

"What happened?" Dick was looking at the floor to the window and barely registered the man's question. If it wasn't for the sting in his arm when Alfred dabbed at an open cut, he would have been lost in his own thoughts.

"I-I don't really know…" The boy said, at a loss for words, "I was sleeping and the next thing I know an owl smashed through the window! Took a bite of that bat and started attacking my head!" Dick stated breathlessly, his eyes falling back to the corpse on the floor. Alfred continued to examine the cuts and gave a brick "Tt".

"I suggest we have Dr. Thompkins take a look at these, there is a great risk for infection. Come along sir, I have better equipment _downstairs _to deal with these injuries." Alfred said as he slowly led Dick out of his bed, careful not to disturb the wounds. As Alfred directed the boy towards the door he noticed that the Dick's eyes were still glued to the bleeding bat, to his mentor; who was looking closely at the door and picking up small feathers that landed on the floor.

With a coarse harrumph from the butler, Bruce's attention fell on his son. He wasn't fond of the way that Dick kept starring at the bat back to himself. It didn't take a detective to guess what the boy was thinking, especially with the teenager's upbringing in the circus. He recalled that Dick was fond of the fortune teller from Haly's Circus, often recalling her accurate visions. It took a while before the boy to leave fortune telling out of detective work, but seeing him stare at the bat now Bruce had to wonder if he was trying to form a premonition of the future.

"Hey, c'mon kiddo." Bruce said as he laid a hand on Dick's shoulder and walked him into the hallway. "Alfred, go wrap those cuts, I'll call Leslie and see if she can see Dick after school today. There's no time beforehand." Bruce said as Alfred and Dick descended the stairs, words about "an exciting morning" left in their wake. He turned back into the bedroom trying to convince himself that this was just an accident, but something about the situation made a brick settle in the pit of his stomach. An exciting morning indeed.

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**A/N: Not the best at writing so I'm practicing with this story. I have an idea of where I want to go with this, but suggestions are always nice. Events will begin to get more exciting in the next few chapters. Thanks for reading!**

**-Magi**


	2. Chapter 2

Dick absentmindedly began to scratch at the sleeves of his blazer, his skin agitated by the gauze wrappings that were covering his morning's injuries. It was a stressful morning with the events that had transpired. The cuts on his arms stung under their bandages, but he wasn't allowed to remove the jacket. Bruce had instructed him not to show his teacher's the talon marks, and he fully agreed. As touching as his teacher's concerns were, it would do no good if one of them suspected that Bruce was abusing him. Which, of course, he wasn't; but that didn't stop the teachers from trying to connect dots that didn't link together. Any bruise or cut was enough for them to start speculating, it had happened once before. Where a teacher, either out of concern or a craving for media spotlight, had contacted Child Protective Services with the claim that Bruce was causing him harm.

It was after a rough night on patrol and Robin had managed to receive a two-by-four to the stomach. It was a stupid mistake. He had side-stepped when he should have ducked and some random thug caught him with the plank of wood. Batman had drilled him on his evasion maneuvering and stressed the importance of reading the intentions of their enemies. The bruise was rather large, but it wasn't anything they hadn't dealt with before, he didn't even crack any ribs. Nothing that a few days of Alfred's bruise balm couldn't fix up, so the thought of hiding his "wound" didn't occur to him until the next day in school during his physical education class. It was no secret the Dick was a small boy, and so it seemed that the standard PE uniforms their school provided always drowned the boy. Even with the smallest size shirt, the fabric would still hang loosely around him.

The class had just started their unit of basketball and were told to form lines in front of the nets to begin a rousing game of "lightning". Dick actually enjoyed the game, and played quite freely with his classmates. After all, no one could link Robin to a few well-placed free throws. It was in the final rounds of the game that Richard even noticed that when he took a shot his shirt would rise high enough to reveal the edges of the bruising on his gut. He lowered his raised arms and scanned around to see if his classmates had caught sight of this, seeing no reaction other than the competitive grins adorned on the kids' faces he assumed he was alright. He had planned on just goofing around and not really playing for the rest of class. That was the plan until his gaze landed on his gym coach. His face contorted in a frown his eyes were searching for clues. Mr. O'Connel was the classic story of a high school jock gone wrong. He had been a pretty impressive wrestler in his A-day, but when it came time to join the professionals he fell short. There was a rumor going around that he had been hooked on drugs, but that meant nothing in this school. Rumors were created and tossed aside so often that even if the truth was out, nobody would know what to believe.

When the bell rang for the next class Dick tried to meld into the group of teenagers going for the door, slumping his shoulders trying to avoid detection. He almost made it out when he heard Coach O'Connel calling his name. Giving a disappointed sigh, he trudged back to his teacher. O'Connel had led Dick back to the boy's locker room, where he found the school nurse waiting for him. After a good half an hour of poking and prodding the nurse decided that it was nothing too serious, but to make sure to some ice on it later at home. With the examination done, the interrogation began. It seemed that Mr. O'Connel had made a few phone calls in the time that the nurse was looking him over, it was only a short while later when CPS had arrived at the school. Dick was overwhelmed with the agents demanding answers from him and making wild accusations against Bruce.

The whole situation had snowballed out of control, and it did more harm than good, despite the intentions in the beginning. It took days to get their lawyers to have CPS drop the case against Bruce. They had created the story that Dick was simply climbing a tree and fell onto a lower branch. Eventually the court settled on an agreement and for nearly a year the Wayne household had to undergo monthly check-ups to make sure that all was well. It was insulting to have them walk into their home and give Bruce and Alfred disgusted glares. They didn't deserve the horrid attention that CPS incident brought and even if it was false it did nothing to stop the gossip of the social elite. Dick owed a lot to Bruce and he had felt guilty that he caused a dark smudge over the Wayne name. That had happened a few years ago, and while the gossip had been covered up by more recent events Dick made sure that no one ever saw the injuries from his "extracurricular activities".

"Dick?" A concerned voice broke him out of his thoughts as a firm hand rested on his shoulder, shaking him slightly. Dick looked up from his desk to be greeted by a brilliant flash of red hair and stunning blue-green eyes. Barbara now had her hand on her hip as she impatiently awaited a response from her zoned out friend.

"Dick, class is over. C'mon, let's go eat lunch." She said, shifted her messenger bag over her shoulder, stepping away from his desk. Dick blinked up at her. Had class really finished already? He must have been more distracted than he realized.

"Sorry, Babs. Just spacing out." He gave a sly grin and jumped up from his seated position. Grabbing his bag from the side of his school desk he joined her a few paces later, both walking out the doorway.

"Yeah, well not all of us can sleep through advanced calculus and get away with it." She said, as she playfully jabbed him with her elbow. Dick was grateful that the blow landed on his shoulder, not wanting to have to explain any involuntary hiss of pain to his friend. He had thought about telling Barbara about his encounter with the owl this morning, but decided against it. It wasn't that he didn't trust her, he did, but he didn't fully understand the situation himself. Once he had a logical explanation for the event then he could regale the tale. But the event seemed too bizarre to him. Why was an owl hunting for food so early in the morning? He supposed that it might have been early enough to still be out, but weren't owls and bats both nocturnal? The most intriguing question to Dick though was the way that the owl took a bite out of the bat. He had learned from early science classes that owls ate their food whole and disposed of it via vomiting. Inside of an owl pellet it is easy to find the full set of bones to one or two small rodents. So why did the owl only take one bite? As disturbing as it would have been in the morning, Dick would have rather seen the owl swallow the thing in one gulp. At least then it would have seemed somewhat normal. It almost felt like the owl was sending him a message, and he seriously doubted that it was an invitation to Hogwarts.

Barbara and Dick made their way to the courtyard outside to enjoy their lunch. It was late autumn and they wanted to enjoy the freedom of being outside while they still could. The breeze was starting to get chilly and they knew it wouldn't be long before the frigid Gotham winter would move in. It occurred to Dick that the holiday season was fast approaching, and found himself in a short panic realizing that he had no idea what to get his guardian this year. Buying gifts for his guardian was easy for the first few years, taking any idea that Alfred would give him. Though as he got older, he realized that he wanted to think of his own gift ideas for his father. Alfred was easy to buy for, the man appreciated the simpler things in life. Tea leaves were a tradition to give the old man, and anything that came from the heart of the giver. Dick recalled one Christmas were he had tried his hand at embroidery. He had meant to stitch a tea cup, but the image seemed to resemble more of a duck than anything else. Still though the butler accepted the handkerchief with a warm smile, and still kept it in his pocket to this day.

The two teenagers watched as most of their classmates made their way down the hallway to the mess hall. Dick smirked catching sight of Artemis' long blonde ponytail in with the crowd. He hardly got to see his teammate in school, both having completely different schedules to keep. If Dick remembered correctly Artemis should be on her way to homeroom right now, having the second lunch period. It was nice that neither Barbara nor Dick had to deal with the long lines in the cafeteria, Babs choosing to bring her own lunch and Dick not having the option of school lunches. Alfred had never allowed him to eat the food at the school, claiming that it was a poor example of a healthy meal. Not that Dick would ever complain, Alfred's lunches were always phenomenal and would put any cook to shame.

The two settled down on one of the stone benches as they brought out their lunch totes. Barbara started in on her humble PB&J whilst Dick pulled out a pulled BBQ chicken Panini. He had requested that the butler tone down his extravagant meal plans, having been slightly embarrassed to pull out a five-star meal in front of his friend. She didn't mind though, she was aware of his guardian's wealth and expected no less from the ward of a billionaire. Though soon after the two had decided to be each other's lunch buddy, a deal was made that they would split their lunches in half and share. Barbara enjoying a taste of fine cuisine and Dick got to enjoy the simple lunches that were given to him by his parents. It was an odd ritual, but one they enjoyed. It was like stepping into each other's shoes for a while, experiencing the lives that they lived outside of school.

Just as Dick was about to hand over his half of the meal, a flash of light brown caught his eye. It swooped down into the rafters of the outdoor walkway, perching on the high bars of the structure. Dick felt his blood run cold as he recognized the shape. An owl, not just any owl though, the _same _owl from this morning. It had the same heart-shaped face and familiar brown markings. Dick felt a wave of dread wash over him as he recognized a pink stain adorning the feathers around the bird's neck, left there from its meal this morning. Students stood in awe of the bird, countless fingers pointing up to point out the night-time visitor. Babs too had turned her head to look at what the big commotion was all about, missing Dick stiffen and get to his feet quickly. The cold eyes of the bird never leaving his startled form.

This had gone beyond coincidence now, it was impossible, right? The exact same bird, from this morning; here in his school, staring him down in the courtyard. Was it trying to get another message across, since Dick had failed to pick up on it this morning? Or perhaps it was notifying him that its work was done? But…it was just a bird…did it have the thought capacity to realize what it was doing? Was it trained to follow commands? Stranger things have happened in Gotham, maybe the Penguin was trying a new breed of bird to control? Though why would it go after Dick? He had no ties to the Penguin and he certainly didn't have any rare bird art or jewelry, nor did Bruce. Perhaps a new villain then, some type of Birdman or something? Were they after Bruce? Did they know about Batman and Robin? The questions kept mounting in his mind with no answers being found. Things were starting to get weird. It didn't help matters that these oddities were targeting Dick Grayson instead of Robin. If something were to come after him whilst he was in his civilian identity, there was little he could do to that wouldn't reveal his secret. Eyes never leaving the bird, he slowly took the whole of his sandwich and passed it to Barbara.

"Here Babs, do you want to have my lunch?" He said, receiving an odd look from her as she slowly agreed, taking the napkin wrapped sandwich. Dick grabbed his back and began hoist it over his shoulder.

"What's the matter?" Babs inquired setting her food aside for the moment, choosing instead to inspect her friend, noting that he had been acting weird all day.

"Just not feeling the aster. I don't feel so good." Dick stated, not a complete lie, he hadn't felt good all morning, but he simply chalked it up to his ever-present concern. Barbara took this moment to put the inside of her wrist on the boy's forehead. Dick hadn't actually believed himself sick, until Babs gave a concerned "hmm". Dick squirmed out of her touch, feeling awkward at the attention he had drawn to his wellbeing.

"You are a little warm. Maybe you should go home. I can pick up your homework for the rest of the day and bring it by tomorrow afternoon." Going home was his plan to begin with, he had to talk to Bruce. There was more going on here that either of them knew. The redhead gave a small smile and Dick turned to walk to the nurse's office, giving a short thanks as he continued down the corridor. Dick was glad that today was Friday and he wouldn't be missing much schoolwork. Not that the work was difficult, but it would be annoying if too much built up at one time on top of patrolling with Batman.

Dick quickened his pace as he approached the rafter that the owl still resided. Its gaze still locked onto its target, shifting slightly at the prospect of confrontation. The crowd of students had dispersed and Dick felt the creature's eyes more harshly than before, his step became a slight jog as he hastily reached for the door to the school. Pulling it open he hurriedly stepped inside and slammed it shut, receiving a few glares from the teachers. He didn't notice though, starring out the pane as the owl descended from its perch and flew off into the autumn sky, kicking up leaves from the ground as it rose. Dick pulled out his cellphone and dialed the number for the manor. He needed to know what was going on, and the only person who could come close to answering his questions was Bruce.

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**A/N: Thanks to everyone who followed and reviewed, it means a lot! Sorry this chapter wasn't that exciting. The pace should pick up in the next chapter, where Wally will finally worm his way into this story. Thanks for reading! XD**


	3. Chapter 3

It didn't take long for the onyx Bentley to pull around to the school entrance, and now Dick found himself getting into the backseat of the luxury car. The polished leather squeaking underneath his weight as he slumped back into the seat. He released a heavy sigh of relief, gaining an odd look from the butler in the front. Alfred met his gaze, eyebrows furrowed in concern. The older man was both confused and worried when he received a call from the school regarding his young charge. It wasn't a complete surprise that the boy had developed a fever, even after thoroughly sanitizing the cuts on his forearms, heaven knows what kind of bacteria the fowl had on its talons. The fever could be easily dealt with, but what bothered him was the fact that Dick had admitted to being ill. Over the past 5 years Richard has taken on some of the habits exercised by his guardian, one of which is hiding his physical discomforts. It drove the butler batty, pun intended; that neither of his charges would admit to being sick, injured or mentally distraught. Instead choosing to persevere through their pain. It seemed that the only time they stopped to evaluate their condition was when they were knocked unconscious or Alfred had to drug them into submission. So to have the headstrong teenager admit his ailment either meant that he was seriously hurting or something else has made the young master upset. It was probably safe to assume the later, given that the lad was still cognizant.

"I'm sorry to hear that you are not feeling well this afternoon, young sir. Might I inquire as to what the problem may be?" Alfred questioned as he started to drive away from the school back home towards the manor. Dick looked into the rearview mirror, catching sight of the butlers gaze.

"Bruce had today off, right? Is he at home?" Dick asked, choosing to ignore Alfred's question. Not out of disrespect though, he was too distracted by his own thoughts to put much answer into a descent response. He was aware that Alfred knew that he wasn't truly sick, but he didn't want to tell him that he was the same owl later today. Dick was unsure of what his response would be. Would he become overprotective or would he simply say that Batman had begun to rub off on him. He would tell him eventually, after he talked with Bruce.

"I'm afraid he is working off-planet today, sir." He said, after a soft 'hmm', "Though I do recall that he instructed for you to join your team at Mt. Justice after school. Team training exercises or something of the sort." Alfred gave a smirk when he saw Dick groan and roll his eyes. Dick flung his head back against his seat, starring at the upper interior of the car. He had wanted to talk to Bruce face to face, but now he would have to wait until later or hold the conversation through a video chat. The childish need for a parent began to arise from within, but Dick quickly deflated it. Bruce was busy, he would just have to wait and talk to him later.

The rest of the drive back to the manor was held in comfortable silence, only being interrupted when Alfred turned off the engine and stepped out of the vehicle. Alfred quickly ushered him inside and took care of his jacket and book bag. Dick felt the bandages snag against the silk lining of the blazer. He wanted to look at the cuts, but the long dress shirt prevented him from rolling up the long sleeves. He needed to change out of this stuffy uniform.

"There is a change of clothes in the infirmary and perhaps a few cookies as well. Go get changed and we'll look at your arms again." The butler said, reading Dick's previous thoughts. Dick was still convinced that Alfred was a mind reader. After removing his shoes, Dick headed down to the cave. Once in the batcave Dick quickly located the change of clothes left out for him. He glanced down at them thoughtfully before walking to where his Robin costume was. He reached into the glass case and extracted the Kevlar suit. If he was supposed to meet the team at the mountain later, he might as well just change now. It was almost one o'clock, his teammates should be getting out of school around three thirty. If he went to Mt. Justice now he might be able to do a bit of research before training with Black Canary started. The Kevlar was cold as the fabric slid over his skin. Dick gave a contented sigh as he felt the comfort and protection the suit provided for him. He finished fastening the clasps on his tunic, choosing to bypass the gloves at the moment, knowing full well that Alfred would be intent on checking the cuts before he went anywhere.

Now fully dressed, minus the gloves and mask, Dick made his way back to the cave infirmary, seeking out the pre-offered cookies. Alfred's black suit appeared around the corner, carrying a tray of antibiotics and a syringe. Dick wanted to protest at the idea of a shot, but decided against it, hoping that his cooperation would make Alfred more agreeable to letting him leave early to the mountain. The chill of the examination table sunk through his leggings as he reached for a chocolate chip cookie that sat on the counter beside the table. Soft metallic clinks resounded as Alfred prepared his medical station. He turned to face his patient, a skeptical "click" escaping his lips when he saw that Richard had donned his uniform.

"I had hoped that you would have decided to rest for a few hours. A ridiculous notion on my part." Alfred smirked as he saw Dick roll his eyes once more at his antics. Dick in return gave his signature grin and nibbled at the edges of his snack. There were never enough words to describe how delicious Alfred's cookies were. If he hadn't seen the man make them, he could have sworn that it was manna sent down from heaven. Skillful hands went to work as Dick savored his treat, looking curiously at the red aggravated skin that made an appearance as the gauze was removed from his arms.

"I feared they would get infected." The older man exhaled as he started dabbing an antiseptic cloth over the enraged markings. Dick could see that, while infected, the cuts could have been a lot worse. Alfred had wanted to take Dick to Leslie right after he received the injury, but after a quick call to the clinic it was revealed that no appointment could be made that day at all. It had surprised them to find that late last night a riot had broken out in the slums of Gotham City, a large gang had taken over one of the smaller convenient stores by force and quite a few people had been hurt. Leslie knew of Alfred's extreme capability in the medical field and knew of the supplies they had stocked up in their lair. She had instructed Alfred to clean the cuts and administer a tetanus shot if necessary, and that if she had the time later she would stop by to make sure Dick was alright. After the marks were redressed and clean Alfred rolled up the black sleeve of the boy's uniform.

"Just a quick prick Master Dick. It's about time you renewed this shot anyways." Alfred stated while he scrubbed the upper arm with alcohol, then went to grab the needle. The thought of needles never really bothered Dick, sure they weren't his favorite thing in the world but they were manageable. No, it was the thought of a foreign substance being put into his body that seemed to put the boy on edge. His parents had always taught him that the human body, if taken care of properly, was just as strong as any immunization or medicine. His mother had even found many home remedies for sudden bouts of illness. It seemed strange when he had first gotten a headache at the manor that he was given ibuprofen instead of peppermint oil and some feverfew tea. Medicine was complicated to him and if he could avoid having to ingesting pills or taking shots he would.

In a fluid motion the needle was in, the vaccine coursing through his veins, and the needle was out. It was a quick process, seemingly painless too, but it still made him cringe. Alfred places a cotton swatch over the puncture hole and rolled down the sleeve, leaving not a trace of the injection. Dick smiled brightly up at the man, as he was handed a glass of milk and a few antibiotics to swallow. With his arms re-bandaged he put on his gloves and leapt off of the table.

"You might feel some stiffness in that arm for a bit, but the pills should help keep any fevers down." Alfred informed as he began to pick up the medical supplies.

"Thanks Alfred," Dick said, now applying spirit gum to his domino mask, "I'm going to head over to the mountain a bit early. If Bruce calls, can you tell him that I want to speak with him?" Dick asked, already knowing the answer to his request. He wanted to talk to Batman, but he didn't want to take the change of disturbing his mentor when he might be in the middle of an important mission. Dick approached the zeta tubes and punched in the coordinates, waiting for the machine to fully charge.

"Of course Master Dick, and try not to strain yourself too much." The butler advised giving a short bow of the head, making some of the more prominent grey hairs show. Dick felt a sense of guilt knowing that a few of those were put there by himself. He gave a curt nod and stepped into the teleporter.

Soft vines of electricity danced over his body as he felt the familiar tingle that most experienced when using the zeta technology. Just a short minute later the familiar hum of the machine dying down and the harsh "Robin B-01" announced his arrival into the mountain. The main hall, like he expected was devoid of life. Even Wolf seemed to be elsewhere. Probably awaiting his master's return from school, curled up at the foot of Conner's bed. He stepped out of the tube and headed down a larger hallway into the cave's computer room.

Monitors lined the walls as Dick sat down and began logging into the servers. The computers were mainly used for intel and mission reports. They were linked up with the League's databases and held important information that helped them on their missions. Robin found it funny that some of the documents were password protected and triple encrypted. He supposed that if anyone else were trying to see the guarded files it would have stopped their search, but to Dick it was a simple task to open the docs. Ever since the incident with the Red's the Justice League had been trying to boost cave security. The team was shaken by the sudden attack and even the mentors found themselves in shock. There were too many 'what ifs' in that situation, though most were reluctant to admit it, but the infiltration had made them realize that the team could be targeted easily.

Dick had opened the search engine and began typing in keywords to try to find if any recent activity had warranted a suspicious eye. There was nothing so far about any disbelieving behavior from the fowl community, unless the deaths of many city pigeons flying into windows counted. Dick narrowed down the search results, choosing to go instead for a local view of recent activity. Nothing recent had been noted. So Dick took the search back to later years, hoping to find a link to something. He knew that maybe he was starting to grasp at straws, maybe this was just a coincidence. The documents finished loading only five articles had been located, the Penguin having been taken out of the search engine. The first few dated back to the last twenty years and only talked about many different species of birds that lived within the city. The next two were more recent, going back about four years to when the bird flu had hit the city, and citizens were becoming ill.

Pulling up the last file, Dick noticed that it wasn't a word document like the rest of the files, but instead a jpeg. A picture taken of an old Gotham Times newspaper. The article was dated back to 1865. Dick scanned over the image, trying to read the small print attempting to get some sort of clue from the paper. A smaller title at the bottom of the paper gave Dick the answer as to why this document was in with the others. The black text read "Court of Owls: Myth". Looking up at the screen more closely, Dick read the title over again in his mind. After his five years of living with Bruce in Gotham he had never heard of a group or organization called the Court of Owls. The paper clearly didn't think that it was important as the information below the header began listing proof as to why they didn't exist. So some old rumor that didn't last the test of time.

Dick slumped back into the computer chair, taking a moments rest before he decided to begin his search anew. Just as he was about to try a new search a flash of yellow and a gust of wind assaulted him from behind, and the next thing Robin knew he was being hugged forcefully from behind.

"Rob!" Wally exclaimed as he turned his friend around to face him, "What are you doing here? I thought you had school today?" KF asked, ignoring the glare that the boy wonder sent his way.

"I could ask you the same thing, skipping class?" Dick countered back as Wally gave a deep chuckle.

"It's a teacher in-service day. One of the joys of public education." Wally said, still awaiting an answer from his friend as to why he wasn't in school himself. Before he could ask again though, the picture on the monitor caught his attention.

"The Court of Owls?" He turned his gaze back to his friend, who in return closed down the window and shut the computer off.

"It's nothing." Dick said, "I just wasn't feeling well earlier today, so I went home." Wally gave a 'that's a line of bullshit' look at his friend before placing his hands on his shoulders and forcing him to look into his eyes.

"C'mon, do you really think I'm buying that line? We have some time before the team arrives. Tell me about it." Dick gave a small nod, before launching into the events of the morning.

Wally knew Robin could handle himself, but when the kid started to hide information from him, it made him feel like a bad friend. He had known Dick for a few years now, and he knew that when he tried to hide information or handle a situation on his own, it usually meant that the shit was gonna hit the fan. As he listened to his friend's retelling of the morning, Wally couldn't even begin to imagine how accurate the previous statement was.

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**A/N: For some reason I just couldn't get this chapter to go anywhere, next chapter I promise we'll see some action. Thanks to everyone who reviewed! XD**


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